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Fish Tank #34 Close But No Cigar: Millencolin

Starting in 1992 out of Orebro, Sweden was the flag ship band for Burning Heart records and one of the first skate punk bands I went crazy over, Millencolin. Their name is taken from a skate trick named Melancholy. These guys are an amazing blend of some heart wrenching lyrics and straight shredding. Well, for those of ya who don’t know these guys, let’s solve that problem.

1994 saw the debut album Tiny Tunes. This was initially released in Europe on Epitaph’s sub label Burning Heart. When it was released in the U.S. the band was forced to rename it Same Old Tunes and change the cover art due to a lawsuit from Warner Brothers. This album was primarily straight ahead skate punk with a few ska punk songs. Stand outs on this include Mr. Clean and Da Strike.

1995 dropped Life On A Plate. This continued their blend of skate and ska punk songs. Their playing continued to tighten up. Stand out tracks on this include Bullion and Vulcan Ears. This was another solid effort from Millencolin.

1997 gave us For Monkeys. This had a break out single for this band with Lozin’ Must. An honestly great song. Their sound was getting harder on some songs in this album. The other stand out on this was Twenty Two.

2000 was Millencolin’s break out release Pennybridge Pioneers. This was their jump from Burning Heart to Epitaph. They had dropped the ska sound and every track on this is solid punk rock. Stand outs on this are Fox, Penguins and Polar Bears and No Cigar. The album title is the English translation of the band’s home town. No Cigar was featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.

2002 was Home From Home. The Millencolin sound plowed right along in this album. In some was the sound hardened up more on singles like Man or Mouse and Kemp. The true stand out on this album though was Punk Rock Rebel. This is a tribute song for that old dog that got ya into punk to begin with, we all have one.

2005 gave us Kingwood. There are number of notably harder tracks on this one. Some are at more of a break neck pace than anything this band had done prior. The stand out is a dark and sad song known as Shut You Out though. It’s not a slow song by any means though, it’s a punk rock ballad you can thrash a ramp to.

2008 was Millencolin’s most current release Machine 15. Through all the years and albums this band hasn’t slowed up one bit. Aside from these releases the singe Nikola has released 4 solo albums. The band continues to tour and are said to be working on a new album. They even had a Vans shoe which I’d like to see come back. So lube up your bearings and play some of the Pennybridge Pioneers at your next skate session.